React Native Tv Best Practices
CallstackOfficialPublished by Callstack
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AutoGineer summary
Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author
This skill provides a comprehensive set of best practices for building, testing, and debugging React Native applications on TV platforms, including Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, and web-based targets. It focuses on the unique challenges of the 10-foot UI, such as remote-based D-pad navigation, focus management, TV-specific performance constraints, and accessibility requirements. The guidance helps developers navigate the differences between various TV stacks like react-native-tvos and Amazon Vega/Kepler.
What it does
- Provides heuristics for 10-foot UI design, typography, and layout.
- Offers strategies for managing focus engines and D-pad navigation.
- Details performance optimization for low-memory TV hardware.
- Outlines requirements for TV-specific accessibility and screen reader support.
- Explains how to handle video playback, DRM, and player controls.
- Guides developers on identifying and setting up the correct TV platform stack.
When to use it
- When building or debugging navigation issues related to remote inputs.
- When optimizing app performance for low-memory TV devices.
- When implementing accessibility features for TV screen readers.
- When troubleshooting video playback or DRM integration errors.
- When designing layouts for 10-foot viewing distances.
Advantages
- Reduces platform-specific bugs by providing clear stack-detection rules.
- Improves user experience through consistent focus and navigation patterns.
- Helps meet accessibility standards required for TV app store approval.
- Provides actionable debugging paths for common TV-specific failures.
Usage examples
- “How do I fix focus jumping to the wrong element in my React Native TV app?”
- The agent will guide you to use focus-management.md, recommending the use of TVFocusGuideView for shared focus paths and advising against imperative focus overrides.
- “My app crashes on Fire TV when scrolling through a long list of posters. What should I check?”
- The agent will point you to perf-lists.md and perf-memory.md to implement proper virtualization and optimize image memory usage for low-memory hardware.
Install
Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/callstackincubator/react-native-tv-best-practices/downloadUnzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:
mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip react-native-tv-best-practices.zip -d .agents/skills
Documentation by Callstack
React Native TV Best Practices
Overview
TV-specific review guidance for React Native-backed apps on Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, Amazon Vega/Kepler, and web-based TV targets such as Tizen or webOS.
Use this skill only for TV deltas: remote input, focus engines, 10-foot layout, platform packaging, playback/DRM, low-memory TV hardware, and TV accessibility. For ordinary React Native performance or architecture issues, use react-native-best-practices.
Skill Format
Reference files are grouped by topic prefix:
focus-*: focus engines, focus guides, focus event performancenav-*: D-pad navigation, Back/Menu behavior, keyboard/search inputdesign-*: 10-foot typography, layout, color, focus visibilityperf-*: startup, memory, lists, animation, and network constraints on TV hardwarevideo-*: playback architecture, DRM/protocol selection, debugginga11y-*: TV accessibility implementation and audit checkssetup-*: stack detection, setup, architecture, cross-platform behaviortest-*andrelease-*: test coverage, E2E, and CI/release workflows
When to Apply
Apply this skill when the app targets a TV platform and the work involves:
Focus movement, visible focus, focus restoration, or remote/D-pad input
TV layout readability, overscan/safe areas, or 10-foot UI density
TV player controls, manifests, DRM, decoder support, or playback errors
Performance on low-memory TV hardware, especially with video or large carousels
TV accessibility with screen readers, captions, focus order, or remote-only interaction
Platform setup for
react-native-tvos, Expo TV, Amazon Vega/Kepler, Tizen, or webOS
Before You Start — Identify the TV Stack
This skill covers several TV stacks. Detect which one the app targets before flagging setup issues — demanding react-native-tvos, a tvOS Podfile, or an Android TV manifest on a Vega/Kepler or web-based TV app produces false positives.
| Stack | How to detect | Setup expectations |
|---|---|---|
| react-native-tvos (Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV) | "react-native": "npm:react-native-tvos@…" in package.json | tvOS Podfile (platform :tvos); Android TV leanback/LEANBACK_LAUNCHER manifest entries; TV emulator/simulator |
| Expo + react-native-tvos | above plus @react-native-tvos/config-tv in app.json | EXPO_TV=1 prebuild; react-native-tvos version must match the Expo SDK; not all Expo features/libraries are available on TV |
| Amazon Vega / Kepler | Vega/Kepler SDK & tooling (@amazon-devices/* deps, Kepler manifest); no react-native-tvos | Amazon's Vega/Kepler toolchain — react-native-tvos, tvOS Podfile, and Android TV manifest do not apply |
| Web-based TV (Tizen, webOS) | web bundler (Rsbuild/webpack) + platform packaging; spatial-nav library | Platform SDK packaging; @noriginmedia/norigin-spatial-navigation for focus |
The focus, 10-foot design, performance, accessibility, and player guidance applies across all of these — only the setup/build expectations are stack-specific.
Review Rules
Resolve the target stack before setup advice.
Prefer natural focus order and focus guides before imperative focus calls or broad
nextFocus*maps.Treat focus loss, invisible focus, and broken Back/Menu behavior as navigation bugs.
Check readability, safe areas, and focus states at TV distance before tuning visual details.
Profile on the weakest supported TV device before reporting performance fixes as complete.
Separate playback failures by layer: manifest request, DRM license exchange, decoder capability, player state, and React UI controls.
Priority-Ordered Guidelines
| Priority | Category | Impact | Prefix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Focus and D-pad navigation | CRITICAL | focus-*, nav-* |
| 2 | List, animation, and input performance | CRITICAL | perf-* |
| 3 | Playback and DRM failures | HIGH | video-* |
| 4 | 10-foot readability and layout | HIGH | design-* |
| 5 | TV accessibility | HIGH | a11y-* |
| 6 | Stack setup, testing, and release | MEDIUM | setup-*, test-*, release-* |
Quick Reference
Detect the TV stack from package files, manifests, native folders, and platform tooling.
Reproduce navigation with the remote or D-pad path, not mouse/touch assumptions.
Confirm the focused element is always visible, reachable, and restored after modals/routes.
Check playback failures from the network/DRM layer upward before changing React controls.
Measure list, animation, memory, and startup work on the weakest supported TV target.
References
Focus and Navigation
| File | Impact | Description |
|---|---|---|
| focus-management.md | CRITICAL | Focus engines, focus guides, nextFocus*, and focus restoration |
| focus-performance.md | CRITICAL | Avoiding frame drops from focus event handling |
| nav-directional.md | CRITICAL | Directional navigation rules across TV platforms |
| nav-patterns.md | CRITICAL | Global/local navigation, modals, tabs, and Back behavior |
| nav-keyboard.md | MEDIUM | Search and text input with remotes |
Design
| File | Impact | Description |
|---|---|---|
| design-10foot.md | HIGH | 10-foot review heuristics |
| design-typography.md | HIGH | TV type sizing and readability |
| design-layout.md | HIGH | Safe areas, spacing, carousels, and focus room |
| design-color.md | MEDIUM | Contrast and TV display color constraints |
Performance
| File | Impact | Description |
|---|---|---|
| perf-overview.md | HIGH | TV performance targets and profiling order |
| perf-lists.md | CRITICAL | Virtualized rows and poster-heavy lists |
| perf-animations.md | CRITICAL | Focus and transition animation performance |
| perf-memory.md | HIGH | Low-memory TV crashes and image/video pressure |
| perf-network.md | HIGH | Remote input, request stalls, and network resilience |
Video, Accessibility, Setup, Testing
| File | Impact | Description |
|---|---|---|
| video-streaming.md | HIGH | TV platform protocol/DRM selection |
| video-players.md | HIGH | Player choices and custom controls |
| video-debugging.md | HIGH | Manifest, DRM, codec, and playback debugging |
| a11y-overview.md | MEDIUM | TV-specific accessibility differences |
| a11y-implementation.md | HIGH | Accessible labels, roles, live regions, and focus |
| a11y-checklist.md | MEDIUM | Launch accessibility audit checklist |
| setup-getting-started.md | MEDIUM | react-native-tvos and Expo TV setup |
| setup-cross-platform.md | MEDIUM | Platform detection and cross-platform caveats |
| setup-architecture.md | MEDIUM | Code sharing and project structure |
| test-strategy.md | MEDIUM | TV testing scope and coverage split |
| test-javascript.md | MEDIUM | JS-level remote/focus test helpers |
| test-e2e.md | MEDIUM | Appium and TV E2E coverage |
| release-cicd.md | MEDIUM | CI, build fingerprinting, and release checks |
Problem → Skill Mapping
| Symptom | Start Here |
|---|---|
| "Focus jumps to wrong element" | focus-management.md → Debugging section |
| "App freezes when scrolling lists" | perf-lists.md → Virtualization |
| "Animations stutter on Fire TV" | perf-animations.md → Native driver |
| "Text too small on TV" | design-typography.md → Minimum sizes |
| "Video won't play / DRM errors" | video-streaming.md → DRM section |
| "Screen reader skips elements" | a11y-implementation.md → Roles & labels |
| "Back button doesn't work right" | nav-patterns.md → Back navigation |
| "Keyboard covers content" | nav-keyboard.md → Built-in vs custom |
| "App takes forever to start" | perf-overview.md → Startup time |
| "Images causing memory crashes" | perf-memory.md → Image optimization |
| "CI pipeline takes hours" | release-cicd.md → Fingerprinting |
| "How to share code across platforms" | setup-architecture.md → Code sharing |
Security (TV-Specific)
General dependency/input hygiene applies as in any RN app; the TV-specific deltas worth calling out:
Never embed FairPlay/Widevine/PlayReady keys in client code — treat the license server as the trust boundary and keep DRM tokens server-issued.
Files
- ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer879 B
- LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.1 KiB
- SKILL.md10.9 KiB
- agents/openai.yaml307 B
- references/a11y-checklist.md4.3 KiB
- references/a11y-implementation.md4.4 KiB
- references/a11y-overview.md2.8 KiB
- references/design-10foot.md3.0 KiB
- references/design-color.md3.8 KiB
- references/design-layout.md3.0 KiB
- references/design-typography.md2.6 KiB
- references/focus-management.md6.4 KiB
- references/focus-performance.md3.5 KiB
- references/nav-directional.md3.6 KiB
- references/nav-keyboard.md3.6 KiB
- references/nav-patterns.md4.4 KiB
- references/perf-animations.md3.0 KiB
- references/perf-lists.md3.3 KiB
- references/perf-memory.md2.5 KiB
- references/perf-network.md2.7 KiB
- references/perf-overview.md3.6 KiB
- references/release-cicd.md3.2 KiB
- references/setup-architecture.md3.8 KiB
- references/setup-cross-platform.md3.3 KiB
- references/setup-getting-started.md5.1 KiB
- references/test-e2e.md3.6 KiB
- references/test-javascript.md3.7 KiB
- references/test-strategy.md2.3 KiB
- references/video-debugging.md1.6 KiB
- references/video-players.md3.2 KiB
- references/video-streaming.md2.1 KiB
references/perf-overview.md
title: Performance Overview for TV impact: HIGH tags: performance, device-tiers, kpis, startup, hardware, tv
Performance Overview for TV
TV hardware is significantly weaker than modern phones. A 65" TV is often closer to a budget Android phone in CPU/GPU terms — while also decoding 4K video.
Quick Reference
Set performance budgets from the weakest supported TV device
Keep one low-end streaming stick or TV in the regular test matrix
Measure input latency, FPS during focus movement, memory, startup, and time to playback
Treat video playback as part of the performance budget; UI work competes with decode and buffers
Why Performance Is Unforgiving on TV
CPU/GPU budgets are lower — every unnecessary render competes with video decoding
Memory: 1-2 GB — shared between OS, video buffer, and your app
Users notice everything — 300ms input delay = "the app froze"; 45 FPS = visible stutter
TV chipsets are designed for video playback, not high-performance UI rendering
Device Tiers — Progressive Enhancement
Low-End (Fire TV Stick Gen 1)
Keep it lean. Drop fancy gradients, heavy shadows, long transitions. Stick to snappy focus highlights, lightweight lists, instant feedback. Responsiveness beats visual flair.
Mid-Range (Samsung Smart TV mid-tier)
Layer in some polish. Quick scale/fade here and there. Still performance-first.
High-End (Apple TV 4K, Nvidia Shield)
Add visual polish: parallax banners, chained animations, cinematic transitions.
Implementation:
Detect hardware class at runtime (device model, RAM, OS version)
Maintain feature flags for performance tiers (basic, standard, enhanced)
Shared baseline layout + conditional animations/effects per tier
Test on real devices at each tier
KPIs to Track
| Metric | Low-End Target | Mid-End | High-End |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cold start time | <5s | <4s | <4s |
| Time to playback | <10s | <7s | <7s |
| Time to first meaningful paint | <3s | <2s | <1.5s |
| FPS during navigation | 60 | 60 | 60 |
TV-Specific Performance Checks
Remote input latency — Measure the delay from D-pad press to visible focus movement. Keyboard input and simulator clicks hide this class of regression.
Playback startup — Track manifest request, DRM license request, first decoded frame, and controls-ready time separately.
Memory with video active — Measure carousels and overlays while a video surface is mounted; image caches and video buffers share the same low memory budget.
Focus navigation FPS — Measure row-to-row and card-to-card movement, not only inertial scrolling.
Device tier fallback — Disable heavy shadows, gradients, parallax, and long transitions on low-end devices before reducing content density.
Automating Performance Measurements
Manual testing doesn't scale across TV platforms:
import { PerformanceObserver, performance } from 'react-native-performance';
performance.mark('app_start');
AppRegistry.registerComponent(appName, () => {
performance.mark('app_registered');
return App;
});Collect timestamps via automated tests on real devices
Push metrics to Grafana/Datadog for trend tracking
Fail CI if metrics regress beyond thresholds
Related Skills
perf-animations.md — Animation performance
perf-lists.md — List virtualization
perf-network.md — Network optimization
perf-memory.md — Memory management
focus-performance.md — Focus-related performance
Requirements and compatibility
Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta
“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.
Security
No issues found by our static scan· No issues found
A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.
Attribution and licence
- Published by
- Callstack
- Publisher
- Callstack (Official)
- Source
- callstackincubator/agent-skills · skills/react-native-tv-best-practices · commit 59e9d17
- Licence
- MIT License (redistribution allowed)
- LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
- ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
- Synced
AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by Callstack or Callstack.
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